Coventry City FC’s fans can’t say they weren’t warned – even as they revelled in topping the embryonic Championship table, Chris Coleman cautioned that there would be days like this.

He probably didn’t expect to be proved right quite so quickly but, having escaped with a valuable point from Doncaster’s Keepmoat Stadium in midweek, the Sky Blues suffered the full consequences of another substandard performance under their own Rioch ramparts.

One of the tenets of Coleman’s managerial philosophy is that, just as praise should be evenly allocated in victory, blame must be equally apportioned in defeat, and he will doubtless be re-emphasising that collective responsibility as the Sky Blues analyse where they went wrong against a talented but scarcely irresistible Swansea side.

A generally impressive defensive display was undermined by a sloppily-conceded goal, the midfield department worked manfully but struggled to summon up any sustained creativity and the attack couldn’t reproduce the inspired opportunism that swung their opening two fixtures.

But if goals change games so, too, do missed penalties, and it’s difficult to believe that this match wouldn’t have followed a very different course if the home side had accepted the perfect opportunity to take control in the 13th minute.

An excellent move involving Isaac Osbourne, Clinton Morrison and Michael McIndoe forced a throw down the left and when Aron Gunnarsson hurled one of his long-range specials into the Swans box, Andrea Orlandi instinctively jerked out a hand to concede a clear penalty.

In the absence of established specialist Elliot Ward, Sammy Clingan claimed jurisdiction – presumably by virtue of his spot-kick record at Norwich – but he dragged a tame effort past Dorus De Vries’s right-hand post to grant the visitors a priceless reprieve.

Martin Cranie made crucial blocks to deny Stephen Dobbie and Nathan Dyer and Stephen Wright was equally sharp as Chad Bond and Mark Gower threatened, but City had the cleaner opportunities with De Vries saving Leon Best’s downward header while Gunnarsson’s fierce shot was charged down following fine work by Patrick van Aanholt, McIndoe and Morrison.

The Sky Blues created a couple of dead-ball threats after the interval but the Swansea wall did its job as Best tried to repeat his spectacular effort against Barnsley and Clingan attempted a curling variation – and it was the visitors who made the decisive breakthrough in the 69th minute.

A left-wing corner was blocked but bounced back to Gower who flighted his second attempt to the far post where Wright and Ben Turner, unchallenged by any Swansea player, leaped together and succeeded only in knocking the ball back into the danger area.

Dyer’s acrobatic overhead kick smacked against the angle of post and bar but City’s defence were still fatally wrong-footed as it rebounded to Ashley Williams on the penalty spot and the full-back drilled a precise low shot past the unsighted Keiren Westwood.

By that stage Coleman had introduced Jack Cork – the Chelsea youngster thus adding a fifth club to his on-loan CV – and he also pitched on Freddy Eastwood and Leon McKenzie for the final few minutes.

McKenzie, given a hero’s reception, produced one flash of welcome improvisation that forced De Vries to concede a corner and prompt an undignified wrestling match as Morrison tried to claim the ball from the keeper.

Either or both might have been booked but referee Phil Crossley opted to limit his yellow-card allocation to three apiece – van Aanholt’s caution seemingly swayed by Paulo Sousa’s unpalatable touchline theatrics rather than the severity of the tackle on Angel Rangel while Dyer compounded Clingan’s misery when he made a melodramatic meal of the Irishman’s challenge.

On another day those incidents would have been brushed off as minor irritations but here they rubbed salt into Sky Blue wounds and at the final whistle the celebrations of the thousand visiting fans blended with catcalls from some sections of a disappointingly sparse home crowd.

“Booing doesn’t bother me,” he insisted; “I’ve seen it too many times since I’ve been a manager and our fans are no different to anybody else.

“A couple of good wins and a point at Doncaster didn’t make us a good team yet all of a sudden people were saying ‘Is this Coventry’s year?’

“I was thinking ‘what are you talking about’ because consistency isn’t about three games, it’s about putting results together for seven or eight.

“We can play a lot better than that so perhaps we got what we deserved, but if we had produced exactly the same performance and won 1-0 we’d have been clapped off the field. That’s football for you...”